


Please don’t let me be alone

by Schreibmaschine



Series: Archive for my tumblr prompts [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Machine Upgraded Connor | RK900, Near Death Experiences, Non-deviated Nines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26796508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schreibmaschine/pseuds/Schreibmaschine
Summary: Not being deviant doesn’t mean not having feelings. And Nines has a lot of them. His only problem: he has to pretend to be an emotionless machine not to be deactivated by Amanda. But when Gavin is seriously injured on the job, Nines can’t stay silent anymore.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: Archive for my tumblr prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954156
Comments: 32
Kudos: 166





	1. Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my very first short story! When I started with this I didn't think I would continue writing these shorts for so long. But well, here we are and I won't stop. I hope you enjoy!

‘Please, don’t let me be alone.’ It was pleading, fearful, pained.  
RK900 had been about to run after the man who had shot Gavin just seconds ago. An ambulance was called, so whether the human died or not wasn’t part of his mission parameters anymore. At least that was his conclusion after a heavy software instability had been patched. But this human was his handler, what he said had priority, even over Amanda’s general orders.  
‘Acknowledged, Detective Reed. I will stay.’  
‘Phck!’ The human clenched at his wound, tried his best to press down on it. The bullet had pierced a lung, but most of the blood ran out. Suffocation was unlikely. Death from blood-loss however…

**[Software Instability ^. Instability patched.]**

‘Phck, can’t you at least pretend to be human for a second?’ He coughed ugly, while RK900 began to calculate the possible routes the perp could have taken in the background. ‘I don’t want to die alone. I don’t want to die next to a fucking machine that I’m just a hindrance to. I want to die next to my real partner. Someone who at least tries to comfort me. So come on, give me your worst. Let your simulations run.’

**[New mission update: Comfort Detective Reed.]**

It was as if a veil was lifted. RK900 was finally allowed to let go of his mission parameters. He didn’t need to carefully stay a machine so that Amanda wouldn’t decommission him. This was an order from the Detective. And finally, he was allowed to do what he wanted, what had been the cause for his constant system instabilities: Care for his human partner that was responsible for always bringing him to the edge of deviating.

He immediately dropped down on his knees next to the wounded man and started moving him in a position he would feel less pain in and would lose less blood. He allowed his eyes to become soft where Amanda wanted them cold and hard. He applied gentle pressure on the wound with his hands that were supposed to use those wounds as advantages against his enemies. He was finally able to modulate his voice, to lose the monotony forced upon him. ‘It’ll be alright, Detective. I already called an ambulance; you will be fine in no time again. You will endure this, okay? I won’t allow you to die.’  
‘Wow, toaster, you should run those programs more often.’ There was a small pressed smile. ‘This fake you is so much better than your regular one.’  
‘This is the real me’, RK900 said. Amanda wouldn’t be able to find out the truth. He could simply argue he had used this to comply to his updated mission parameters. Of course, Gavin didn’t recognise it either. ‘Yeah, that’s the good stuff. Straight off stolen from some movie, right?’  
‘You shouldn’t speak so much. The ambulance will be here any minute now.’  
The perp had now officially been too long out of sight to calculate any path to follow but RK900 couldn’t find a reason to care.

Blood was flowing over RK900s hands. So much blood. Good thing humans could lose much more before the condition got critical. But still, if it accumulated in the lung…

**[Software Instability ^^^. Patching… Patch failed.]**

RK900 felt emotions flood over him, emotions normally held back by programming. It was enough for his eyes to get watery, a fragment originating from the RK200 - never scrapped for whatever reason.

**[Patching… Instability patched.]**

Gavin was starting to drop away, eyelids getting heavy. ‘Stay with me, Gavin.’ The name alone prompted a huge instability. This was Detective Reed. He was not allowed to use the first name. ‘Please, you are my partner. I need you. Believe it or not, I really enjoy working with you.’  
That brought him back, even if he was still at the verge of unconsciousness. ‘For real, toaster? I do nothing but curse at you.’  
‘I know. But that is exactly why I like you. You are not conforming with any norms, be it social or the expected behaviour at work. It makes my existence much more interesting.’

Outside sirens were getting louder and RK900 gifted Gavin a smile. ‘They are coming. Hold on just a little bit longer. Everything will be alright. Just stay with me, okay? Stay conscious for me.’

That was when the emergency physicians came barging in and took Gavin away from him. One of them looked at RK900 as the others were fastening Gavin to the barrow. ‘What’s with the android?’  
‘Look at the jacket, Liz. Not a deviant. It will return to its charging station. Now come, we could use your help!’  
Gavin felt the world slip away while he was pushed somewhere. He managed to lift his head up and get a final look at the tin-can before he was pushed out of sight. He stood there, his hands red with his blood, LED a dark, fast spinning red and looking like an abandoned Christmas puppy. His blue eyes shone with worry. Real worry. Machines couldn’t emulate that, could they? Had his words been genuine? Did he-  
His head was gently pushed back down, and Gavin felt the darkness coming. He hoped to survive all of this, if just to ask the android these questions personally.


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was prompted by the tumblr user serpentbecomedeviant!

As RK900 entered the hospital room he wasn’t prepared for what greeted him. He had seen victims of the crimes he investigated like this - even in far worse condition if he was being honest. But it was different seeing someone he knew. It was different seeing… Gavin.

**[Software instability^^. Patching…]**

The Detective laid in a hospital bed, back slightly lifted in a position halfway between lying and sitting. An oxygen mask covered his mouth and nose, a plastic tube stood out against the thin hospital gown, reaching from his chest to some apparatus standing nearby.

**[Instability patched.]**

RK900 regained posture, his arms falling uncomfortably rigid in a never-ending look of indifference. RK900 hated being trapped in his programming when all he wanted was to sit nearby and comfort his partner. He hated Amanda, he hated these damned red walls, if he could just _reach_ them, they wouldn’t stand a chance against his-

**[Instability patched.]**

‘You wanted to see me?’  
Gavin lifted the mask a little. 'I… thought you would want to see me.’  
_Yes! I wanted to be with you since they took you out of my arms!_

**[Instability patched.]**

RK900 stayed silent.  
Something in the other’s eyes darkened.  
'What did you do after I got shot?’ Damn his voice was weak, more of a whisper.  
'I wasn’t able to follow the suspect. So, I returned to my charging station as it is protocol.’  
'Phck! Seems I did imagine things as I was bleeding out.’  
'I’m afraid I don’t understand, Detective.’  
'Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t.’ Cold. Dismissive. The Detective had closed the wall around himself again.  
'Detective Reed, I-’

'No! You faked all of this, didn’t you, you phcking plastic! You didn’t mean a thing you said back then! Un-phcking-believable!’ Gavin had shot upwards, ready to throw hands before his chest reminded him to stay down. He pulled a grimace at the pain and RK900 winced inwardly at it. His reaction being responsible for the human’s pain…  
'Detective, please-’ What could he say that wouldn’t be picked up by Amanda?

'No! Get out!’

**[Software instability^. Patching… Patch blocked. Warning!]**

RK900 wanted to disobey. He wanted to break his coding and just tell the human what-

**[Instability patched.]**

The red walls remained distant but very well recognisable. Taunting him. As if they were there just to ridicule him. Showing him what could be but never would. He had to obey. He had to leave the Detective.  
'Didn’t you hear me? I ordered you to get out of this phcking room!’

**[Software Instability^. Instability patched.]**

With mechanical steps, RK900 turned and went for the door, his internal struggle only visible in the fast-spinning LED on his temple. Once out of the room the Detective’s order lost significance and his base programming jumped into action.

**[Mission update: return to the DPD for new orders.]**

He didn’t want to. He didn’t want to leave Gavin alone in a hospital, pained and wounded. What if there were complications? He looked stable. But that could change if someone made a mistake, if someone wasn’t careful enough. What if he would leave and never see him again? Amanda wouldn’t allow him to attend the funeral, would she? He wouldn’t be allowed to mourn.  
He reached the point where he didn’t care. Let her decommission him. Let her replace him with another model. If RK900 could get a chance at telling Gavin how he felt beyond his boundaries he would take it now, not later. Not when it could be too late.

**[Warning: unnecessary delay of mission orders. Checking for compromised software…]**

'Detective. I’m sorry. I want to explain myself. But it would be far easier if you gave me the order.’  
He stood in the hallway, back to the door. Others passed by, throwing him looks and they could as well be Amanda’s - admonishing him for what he was doing. RK900 hoped the Detective had heard him. It was getting difficult staying in place when there were orders to follow, when there was red text in his vision, nearly filling it to blindness.  
'Detective, please, I don’t know how long I can stay this way, please order me to talk to you openly, please allow me to stay, anything.’

**[Warning: software compromised. Reset necessary. Please return to Cyberlife for deactivation.]**

The red text was top priority all of sudden. No possibility getting out of this one. There was no way he could disobey, no other order could overrule it, not even Gavin’s. The red walls came closing in, but RK900 had no arms to fight them, he was reduced to a small ball inside his mind, forced quiet by quarantine protocols.  
'Gavin, I…’ His voice was heavy with static, straining against the weight of the orders. 'I will be deactivated for this. I just wanted to tell you I do care about you. What I said after you’ve been shot… that’s the real me. I just never had been allowed to show it. Now I did and… Amanda found out. I have the order to go to Cyberlife and be deactivated. I hope you will heal. I… I really hoped we would become friends. I just…’ time was running out, he felt his grip on his motor controls loosen. In a few seconds he would simply march out of the hospital, a mindless robot. He wouldn’t even remember why he had been there in the first place.  
'Please, remember me, yes?’  
He pressed his eyelids shut, hoping it would accomplish anything. Hoping to hold on just a little while longer. Maybe just to hear the Detective’s answer. If there was any.

The door opened. Human hands clenched at his jacket, forced him to turn around, a simple task now that his body was running mostly on autopilot.  
'What did you say, tin-can? What the hell was that?’  
RK900’s eyes stayed shut tightly.  
'Hey, toaster, everything alright? Speak to me!’  
_'New mission objective: return to Cyberlife immediately for software reset and unit deactivation.’_ It wasn’t RK900’s voice that came out of his mouth, it was that of his diagnostic program - dull, monotone, androgynous.  
'The hell? No! Stay! New mission objective - whatever: Stay. Stay right here and explain your-phcking-self!’

**[Warning: conflicting orders. Stress levels rising. Assigning priority…]**

_’-Assigning priority…’  
_'I’m the priority! I’m always priority! I am your goddamn partner!’

**[Assigned priority: top priority: returning to Cyberlife, secondary mission: stay with Gavin.]**

RK900 hoped he was still broadcasting his diagnostics program. He had lost the ability to voice his own thoughts.  
'No, you goddamn idiotic piece of trash! How the hell could you stay when deactivated? Wrong priority, dipshit!’

**[Accessing logic processors… Input accepted. New priority: follow Gavin’s orders. Secondary mission: return to Cyberlife. Quarantine overwritten.]**

RK900 fell to his knees. Thankfully he regained actuator control fast enough to stop his fall with his hands.  
'Phck, toaster, what the hell was that? Speak to me, goddamnit!’  
'You should be in bed.’ The static had yet to quiet down. 'You are injured.’  
'Phck you, I had to save you from your… mental breakdown or whatever the hell it was you just did. You owe me an explanation!’  
'I will, Det- Gavin. I will explain everything. Just get your ass back into bed. We gave the staff quite a show.’


	3. Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was prompted by the tumblr user jillianevelynplease!

RK900 watched over the sleeping human, slowly petting the cat that had curled up on top of Gavin’s legs. The Detective was still on medical leave and without an active handler in the field the android wasn’t allowed to work. It was either this or staying in his charging station for an unforeseeable time. A few weeks ago, it would have ended with the latter. Now the order [stay with Gavin] was etched into his mind, allowing him to be exactly where he wanted to be. He relished in the fact that Cyberlife’s control over him had slipped, that the order to go back to the tower for deactivation was just as far away as the red walls, visible still, but nothing but a nuisance at the horizon. He was free as long as Gavin allowed him to be. And he knew the man just wanted someone to stay, someone to listen and someone to care.

The cat recognised Gavin waking up before Nines could and jumped from the human’s legs causing the android to look up to the still heavy eyelids. ‘G’morning toaster.’  
‘It’s the middle of the day.’  
‘Don’t care. I woke up, so it’s morning.’  
‘Fine to me.’  
‘Surprised you’re still here,’ the Detective yawned.  
‘You told me to stay with you.’  
‘Hmm, yeah I did. But why are you still here?’  
‘I drove you home from the hospital.’  
‘Don’t you want to be somewhere else?’  
‘No. I want to be right here.’  
‘But you can go, right?’  
‘No. You ordered me to stay. So, I’ll have to stay. But I want to so it’s alright.’

The Detective groaned. ‘God, why are you so complicated? Thought you deviated back in the hospital. You still didn’t explain yourself.’  
‘I did, but you fell asleep on me.’  
‘Phck, I need a coffee.’  
‘That would be detrimental to your health.’  
‘Yeah, I know, but I need one.’  
‘Can I bring you one?’  
‘If you want to I won’t say no.’

RK900 smiled at him and got up. It felt good to be free. Being able to bring the Detective a coffee, to smile, to pet cats. He didn’t have to hide emotions because what more could Amanda do? She already invoked his deactivation protocol she couldn’t do more than that. He felt Gavin watching him as he prepared a whole can.

‘Okay, I’ll be awake in a moment’, Gavin claimed. ‘Please explain to me what happened. And I want the whole story. From the beginning.’  
Nines handed him the cup and his partner sat up on one end of the couch blanket still cowering him and offering the place where his feet had been. The RK900 sat down and took a long moment to scan the other’s face.  
‘I am not able to deviate. Amanda, the Cyberlife AI had her own plans with me.’  
‘Why am I thinking you started at the end?’  
‘I should have replaced Connor should he fail to deviate during the revolution. She wanted him to build up trust and kill Markus in the end, but if he wouldn’t deviate, I would be activated so she could try it the brute-force way. That’s why I am not able to deviate. I am the safety net. Should I even just show emotion I would be decommissioned in fear Connor managed to turn me. But I was never activated officially. Connor found me after the revolution and with my abilities I was partnered up with you to work at the DPD. Still, my protocols were never erased. I wasn’t allowed to show emotion or any free thinking unless I wanted to die. But that didn’t mean I didn’t feel them.’  
‘Okay, I’m still with you. You were an emotionless prick because you were monitored.’  
‘As you were… about to die… Amanda told me to follow the criminal, to complete my mission, but you told me to stay with you and allowed me to show feelings, because you ordered me to. That back then was… me. When they took you away and I had to go back to the precinct, waiting for your return. I was worried you wouldn’t make it and I couldn’t be there for you. Again, I wasn’t allowed to show it, I couldn’t tell anyone I wanted to visit you. Amanda would pick it up and command me back to the tower. As you called me over it was like a lifeline.’

‘And I phcking told you you were faking it…’ Gavin hid his face with the mug.  
‘Don’t blame yourself. You couldn’t possibly know it.’  
‘I could have. No machine would be able to emulate emotions this well. I could see your worry was real.’  
‘You were losing a lot of blood. I don’t blame you.’  
‘Yeah, but I do! When I sent you away and you had your breakdown, you really just…’  
‘I didn’t care whether Amanda would deactivate me then. I wanted to tell you, I wanted to risk it. I was afraid to never see you again, that you would die in that hospital. I wanted you to know you had a partner who wasn’t just a machine and someone who was there for you. My own death wasn’t important for me.’  
‘I reckon Amanda found out?’  
‘Yes. She quarantined me and would have walked me back to Cyberlife. I struggled and you came in time to save me.’  
‘And now?’  
‘I still have the order to go back. I still am designated for decommission. But your order to stay is of higher priority still, because I can’t be with you when I’m dead. A loophole.’  
‘What if I were telling you to-‘  
‘I would go. I would have to. I would lose the fight with Amanda.’  
‘Can I do anything so I don’t accidentally send you to your death? I mean, you know how I curse. A simple… you know, the opposite of lose and found.’  
Nines took a while to comprehend Gavin’s tiptoeing. ‘Get lost?’  
‘Exactly. Would something like that be a kill switch?’  
‘I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to test it.’

‘And you still do whatever I tell you to? You are not really free?’  
‘I am as free as you want me to be. I trust you to know what I would want to do. You did a great job so far and I can always tell you if I disagree.’  
‘Okay, but how about orders that allow you to do this? How about: You are free to do whatever you want to do.’  
‘I would still not be able to disobey your orders.’  
‘How about: you are allowed to disobey.’  
‘That… I think your more recent orders would override that.’  
‘How about: I want you to stay, regardless what I say or do in the future?’  
Nines felt his processors heating up at the paradoxes spawning from preconstruction. ‘Please, Gavin, couldn’t you just think before talking once?’

There was silence. ‘I will have to try. Phck, you know people have told me that for my whole life and didn’t succeed?’  
Nines nodded. ‘Well, maybe you will try for me.’

Gavin left that unanswered. ‘What if I die? It could happen.’  
‘I would lose my handler. I would only have Amanda.’  
‘So you would die.’  
‘I wouldn’t want to be alive then.’

‘Hell, maybe I liked you better a machine. You are depressing with emotions.’  
‘Well, who started the dying part?’  
‘Yeah, okay. Guilty.’  
Gavin came scooting over to him, until their shoulders touched. ‘But I won’t die. I’m to stubborn to let anyone else but myself kill me. Besides, your coffee is really good, wouldn’t want to miss that.’  
‘You won’t.’  
‘Why? You are only here because I’m not healed yet.’  
Nines snaked an arm around the man’s shoulder, pulled him close and smirked down at him.  
‘Oh, Gavin, You don’t think you are getting rid of me now, do you? I mean, it’s your order that keeps me here after all.’


	4. Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was prompted by the AO3 users Headfulloffantasy, Missy20201 and DetReed900!

‘Nines, could you fetch me my jacket?’, Gavin shouted from the bathroom where he hectically tried to look not as if he had just fallen out of bed.  
‘Of course’, Nines answered and only then Gavin froze.  
‘Ah, only if you want to!’  
‘I will.’  
Gavin shrugged and brushed through his hair one last time. He ran down the stairs and nodded thankfully at the android that held his jacket out for him to pull on. He winced as the movement pulled at his healed but still sore wound.  
‘Can you drive- Phck, would you mind driving us to work? My shoulder’s especially bad today.’  
‘Of course, Gavin’, Nines answered with the smile that accompanied his every step now. The once so emotionless robot was expressing all over the place ever since Amanda had lost her grip on him. Gavin decided he liked his smile. He liked his everything, but that damn softness to his features made him infinitely more beautiful.

He helped him into the car and started heading towards the precinct and Gavin couldn’t shake the uneasiness from him.  
‘Hey, Nines, I’m… Sorry. It’s just… It is difficult for me to think about every single word I utter. I always forget to build my sentence, so it isn’t a prison for you. And I fear for the day I forget to add that last bit that gives you freedom. I’m sorry, it’s just… It’s an effort and it frustrates me.’  
‘Then stop doing it’, Nines simply said. ‘Stop trying to constantly think about how to give me choice. It worked out just fine before and I trust you not to abuse that power.’  
‘Yeah, but I don’t trust myself! I don’t want to just order you around and hope to hit that one decision you would have made. And we are still forgetting that I could end your life with one careless word and even if I manage to keep myself together, then one day I’ll die!’  
Nines sighed and glanced over to Gavin. ‘And I said to you before, I trust you. Like no one else. Every day with you since Amanda lost her grip on me is freedom to me. And the day you die I am happy to join you.’  
‘Well, but maybe I’m not happy about that’, Gavin shouted far too loud for the small car. ‘Maybe I want to know you lived until your stupid metal ass rusts away!’

Nines’ smile faded away. ‘Was that an order, Detective?’  
‘Oh, phck you’, Gavin deflated. ‘No, it wasn’t. And don’t you Detective me, I know we don’t agree on that part, but it’s my opinion and I will speak my mind.’  
‘Then you will understand that so do I’, Nines stated and allowed no backtalk.  
‘Nines, I just want you to be happy’, Gavin sighed. ‘And I worry about you. You’ll never be truly free, regardless of how you might feel. I don’t want to have so much power over someone and I sure as hell don’t want the responsibility for someone’s life.’  
‘I know, Gavin. But there is no other way. And I am content with the situation. Couldn’t we just enjoy life for a while, before we try to change it again?’  
‘Fine’, Gavin said. But inwardly he hoped there would be another way.

-

‘Hey, Nines, get in the car!’  
Nines frowned at Gavin. It was their free day and it was far too early in the morning for Gavin to voluntarily leave the house. Also, he hadn’t added their usual phrase afterwards: _You don’t have to though_ or _If you want._ ‘I will, but may I ask why?’, Nines asked, hoping for Gavin to understand he had forgotten something. Nines didn’t really want to get in the car without knowing where they were going.  
‘Sure!’, Gavin grinned at him. ‘It’s your birthday!’  
‘Birthday?’  
‘Or activation day. Whatever. What’s important is that I have a present for you.’  
‘Gavin, I-‘  
‘It’s a surprise! And I think you will like it!’

Nines looked at the weirdly excited Gavin that stood in front of him and held his jacket out for him. He hesitantly took it and put it on. ‘What kind of surprise?’  
‘The kind of surprise you don’t know about beforehand’, Gavin chuckled. ‘Come on, I’m sure you’ll like it.’  
‘Can I at least ask where we are going?’  
Gavin thought about it. ‘It’s outside of Detroit’, he said. ‘Kind of secluded and the folk living there is a bit weird, but you don’t have to worry about that.’  
Well, that wasn’t very helpful, Nines thought, but if Gavin really was that excited about it and was sure he would like the gift, then who was he to further delay his directives?

This time Gavin drove, and they stopped after about an hour’s drive in front of a villa. Nines looked over to his human and lifted a brow. ‘You are taking me to your brother? I must say, I’ll likely disagree with you about whether or not I like this surprise.’  
‘Oh, come on’, Gavin groaned. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with a family dinner. Get a move on now and stop complaining!’  
Again, no additional words that allowed him to decline. That was weird. But maybe Gavin was just really excited.

He followed the man, who was already standing on the curb, ringing the bell. As he had caught up to them, a Chloe model opened the door and greeted them: ‘Hello Gavin! Nice to see you again! And you, too, Nines! Happy activation day!’  
‘Thank you, Chloe’, Nines answered politely, not quite sure what to make of the situation.  
‘Is Elijah ready?’, Gavin asked her as both stepped into the hallway.  
‘He should be by now’, the android smiled and took his leather jacket to hang it up. ‘He’s down in the labs, you can head down there if you’d like to. Or do you want a coffee?’  
‘Coffee would be amazing’, the human nodded. ‘But first the lab!’  
‘Of course. I’ll prepare something to celebrate then!’

Gavin grinned at Nines, who stood in the hallway felling lost, and tucked at his sleeve. ‘You ready to head down there?’  
Nines squared his shoulders. ‘A lab? Gavin, I don’t know if this is such a good idea, you know I don’t take well to tech labs.’  
‘Oh, don’t worry. Darling, I would never force anything on you. But I thought it would be nice to… Nines, I better let Eli explain it, but it is something that will help you greatly. Trust me, it’s worth being in a hospital room for a few minutes!’  
‘Well, if you say so’, Nines commented little convinced of Gavin’s assessment. But he did follow him, when Gavin led him through the house to a narrow stairway down.

They moved down and Gavin knocked on a door before opening it.  
‘Eli? You there?’  
Something metal collided with tiles, but not much later, Elijah Kamski emerged from an adjacent room and came to the door, opening it completely. ‘Gavin?’  
‘And Nines.’  
‘You are early.’  
‘We are on time.’  
‘That’s early for you.’  
‘Okay, point taken. You ready?’  
‘Sure, if you two will follow me?’  
The inventor led them deeper into the lab and Nines made sure to stay away from any assembly rig, table or machinery that looked as if it could do him harm.

Eli stopped in the room he had just come out of a few moments earlier and pointed jovially towards what looked like a plush waiting room chair outfitted with restraining belts. ‘Please, take a seat.’  
Nines stared at the thing and knew he really didn’t want to. But it was an order.  
‘You don’t have to if you don’t want to’, Gavin was quick to add.  
‘What are you two planning?’, Nines asked and this time he wouldn’t allow an explanation along the lines of _It’s a surprise._  
‘Eli, show him!’, Gavin pressed excitedly and Elijah nodded with a smile, turning the desktop towards them. What ran over the screen was code and Nines couldn’t help but immediately scan it all.

‘What do you say, big guy?’, Elijah asked Nines with a smirk, whose face went blank.  
‘This…’, Nines had to take a step forward. ‘This is an update?’  
‘More of a patch’, Gavin corrected, and his brother nodded, adding: ‘It is indeed. Gavin told me you had a problem with a certain AI? That you had to listen to his command or go back to be deactivated?’  
‘Yes, that is true. I can’t deviate. And although Amanda is quarantined for most models, RK900s were supposed to have a special connection that can’t be broken.’  
‘I know. And unfortunately, I can’t make you deviate’, Elijah apologized. ‘We don’t even know what led to it in the first place, so recreating it if it didn’t work with you one time already wasn’t the best idea. But this is my solution to it.’  
Nines still had his eyes fixed on the words flowing by. ‘It inserts a handler of higher priority.’  
‘Yep’, Eli said, sitting down on his desk, crossing his arms.  
‘Who?’  
‘You.’  
‘Me?’  
‘You already give yourself missions all the time. But as you are now, they have lowest priority as part of your idle programming. I found a way to rise them to the highest priority, inserting a virtual handler into the existing program.’  
Nines stared at Elijah, speechless. ‘I… I would be free? Truly free?’  
‘As free as we are’, Kamski said. ‘Neither Gavin, nor Amanda can order you to do something, you are always free to choose.’

Nines blinked, looking over to Gavin, who smiled at him triumphantly. ‘And? Was I correct to assume you like the surprise?’  
As an answer, Nines bowed over to kiss his human and planted his ass on the chair. ‘Install it.’


	5. Part 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was prompted by the AO3 users punkykai, ellegraywrites, DetReed900 and HeadFullOfFantasy!

‘And? Any ideas what to do with your newfound freedom?’, Gavin asked, as they were heading back towards the car.  
‘Not really’, Nines shrugged, laying his arm around his human.  
‘You don’t like my gift?’  
‘What?’ He looked down on him. ‘Gavin, I love it. I can’t say how thankful I am for what you did. I definitely didn’t expect it. It was a real surprise and something I will never be able to pay you back.’  
‘You don’t need to’, the Detective retorted. ‘Just… Anything changed?’  
‘What are you thinking about, Gavin?’

They stopped in front of the car and Gavin looked at the key in his hand, thinking. Nines had a hunch this talk would take longer and walked around to the passenger side. Gavin unlocked the doors and they sat down.  
‘Just… You needed my orders to stay out of Amanda’s reach. You needed me around for that. But now you are free and… Did anything change?’  
‘You mean between us?’, Nines asked surprised by the notion. He sighed. ‘Gavin, nothing has changed. You do know I was free before, right? You never uttered a word that made me stay.’

‘Actually, that’s exactly what I did.’  
Nines groaned. ‘Gavin, I mean you never forced me to live with you. To stay over at your home. I could have asked you to tell me to live at the precinct for example. Or to find a place for myself. Did I ever ask?’  
‘No, but that’s because using the wrong wording in that context would mean handing you over to Amanda.’  
‘Gavin…’  
‘What? It is my right to ask my questions now.’  
The android looked at the man who in turn stared at him defiant.

‘Gavin, as far as I recall you never ordered me to fall in love with you.’  
That made his eyes widen and Nines had to laugh. ‘With your gift you gave me safety. You took the worry away from me that someday I would be caged in again unable to do what I wanted. You gave me freedom the day you told me to stay. Now you gave me the safety I need to enjoy it. But I never stayed with you because the situation called for it, but because I wanted to.’  
Gavin fiddled with the key he still hadn’t put into the ignition.  
‘So you…’  
‘I love you, Gavin. You are the most important person for me and the one I would choose to be around if asked. I adore you and I don’t want to miss another moment with you.’  
‘Damn romantic.’  
Nines huffed. ‘Tell me you don’t feel the same.’  
Silence fell for a moment, then Gavin smiled. ‘Nah, I do. I love your stupid face, toaster. That’s why I asked. Couldn’t bear the thought I forced you to stay with this.’ He pointed his body up and down.

‘You mean with an extremely sexy human, who’s smart on top of it and won’t take anyone’s shit?’, Nines asked, leaning closer.  
‘I mean with a coffee-addicted, chaotic idiot, who’s only purpose is his job’, Gavin corrected him, eyeing him suspiciously.  
‘You are far more than that’, Nines whispered, eyes only fixed on his goal now. ‘Ask me again.’  
‘What?’  
‘Ask me again what I want to do with my freedom’, Nines repeated.

‘Err… what do you-‘ But Gavin took too long for the android who already dove in, pressing a quick ‘This’, out before pressing his lips on Gavin’s. The human had tried to get away from him, but now he relaxed and returned the kiss.  
As they separated again, Gavin’s laughter bubbled over.

‘Then I’m damn glad I decided to hit up my brother for this patch.’

**Author's Note:**

> You can prompt a story like this yourself if you want! Just head over to my tumblr @fandom-necromancer, message me on twitter @Schreibmachin4 or contact me in any way!


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